I have been a Realtor in the sunny Okanagan Valley for over 5 years now. I am not a new agent and my years of experience along with the over 20 million dollars worth of Real Estate transactions that I have presided over have taught me well. I am a laid back guy and I value interpersonal relationships and experiences above all. I look forward to meeting you:-)

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Trying to decide if you should list your property for sale now or try to rent it for 3-5 years (or more) until the market improves? The answer to which direction to go is not an easy one. Many prospective Sellers are finding that they are having to weigh their losses. In this market many sellers are finding they are selling for less then they paid. This is a shame to say the least. They believe that they may be better of renting their property for a year or so until the market 'turns around.' Well they may have to wait longer then they think. We are forecasting at least 3 years until we see things really stabilize and then 5 or more years until the market starts to trend upwards…but we have no crystal ball so it could be even worse. Also you have to take into consideration that the home could take some very expensive abuse from the tenents over the years the property is rented. Scratched hardwood, stained carpets, damage to walls, counters, cupboards, yards….etc. Most renters do not treat your home as if it were their own…some do and that is even worse! Another point to keep in mind is that the real estate market is flooded with homes for sale. Now that does not help you as a seller of course but it also means there are a ton of rentals out there too. This also translates to lower rental prices. As an example: in a condo which used to be rentable for $1,400.00 month we now see rental prices below $1,000.00. A quote from the CMHC: "The Kelowna area apartment vacancy rate is expected to move higher in 2012." (For a copy of the full report please read the attached document.) So what does this mean for those buyers who are on the fence; Rent or List??? Well it means they have to crunch some numbers. If the mortgage payment is $2000 a month and the home can only be rented for $1,500 a month that is a shortfall of $18,000 over three years of rentals…not including property taxes, durations of vacancy or any maintenance that may need to be done on the home. So would you rather take a $20,000 loss today or a $20,000 loss after the pains of being a landlord over the next 3 years? Big decision but sometimes there is value in getting the property off your back and cutting your losses before they drag you down. If you would like to meet to review your options and discuss what your home could possibly sell for on todays market please contact me today.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Renewal letters are sent out and the rate offered is posted or the same as what was offered on the previous term.

CIBC:

Renewal letters are sent out at posted. If client signs they get the posted rate. If they go to the branch they can negotiate.

Scotia Bank:

Renewal letters are sent out at posted. Client is required to go to the branch to sign, at that point they may offer a discount if client asks.

BMO:

Renewal letters are sent out at posted. If client signs they get the posted rate. If they go to the branch they can negotiate.

Royal Bank:

Renewal letters are sent out and the rate offered is the posted or the same as what was offered on the previous term.

HSBC:

Renewal letters are sent out at posted.

Explanation: The major banks are currently renewing 80 to 90% of the mortgages they hold and of that 80 to 90% they are renewing the majority at posted rates. Paying posted rates vs discounted rates will cost you over $18,000 in additional interest in just 5 years on a $250,000 mortgage amortized over 25 years. That is a lot of money that does not need to go to the major banks, especially when you consider there is over $250 billion worth of mortgages renewing this year only!

A mortgage broker can make sure that what the bank is offering you at renewal is competitive or offer you something that will better suite your needs. The banks also tend to lock clients in for as long a term as possible, yet the average mortgage is paid out due to a sale or refinance in just over 3 years. This means that the majority of clients are paying a penalty at some point? A mortgage broker can review your options and put you in a term that better suites your future plans and allows for some variations to that plan.

If you appreciate these "Tips of the week", just think how much your friends, family and business contacts will appreciate learning a little from you? The law of reciprocity is amazingly powerful and rewarding!

*this article is for information purpose only. Information above should not be relied on as 100% accurate. Please refer to your financial institution for more information. Rates are subject to change without notice.

Designed and developed using the GoMax Solutions CRM platform.

If you or someone you know is thinking of buying or selling a home I would love to help. Call me today! Your referrals to friends and family are always greatly appreciated and REWARDED!

First of all I have to say that we are in the top 5 most productive agents in our whole office and we have over 11 years of combined experience...you are dealing with seasoned and knowledgeable agents.

We will give you an accurate Market Evaluation. This will help you decide the price point at which your home should be advertised at to capture the most attention from prospective buyers.

We will arrange (covering all the expenses) for high resolution Professional Photographs which will highlight our online advertising campaign.

We will have all your advertising materials designed by a professional Graphic Designer. (again at our expense)

Then your property will dominate the internet…yes we said DOMINATE. We want everyone possible to know that your property is for sale. We advertise on over 75 websites!

Here is a list of some of the websites you will find your property advertised on and some of the other great marketing we will do if you list with us:

We will have your home listed prominently on our websites at www.florko.ca and www.KelownaRealEstateNews.com both of which are in the top ten most active real estate websites within the entire Century 21 Canada system (out of approximately 7500 sites). Our websites were also recognised as the #1 and #2 most active real estate websites in Century 21 Kelowna for overall web traffic.

Other Realtors Websites (Our listings look so good we have found other agents use them to fill up space on their websites when they do not have enough listings!)

We purchase the phrase "Homes for Sale in Kelowna" from Google. This means that whenever anyone searches this term or most combinations of the words our websites will appear on the first page of the Google search. This will increase traffic to our websites and in so doing will increase exposure to your property.

Google Adwords

Facebook Adwords

Blogging on Blogspot, Wordpress, Tumblr, Xanga our websites help to drive internet traffic to the places where your home is listed.

We will also update many of these sites regularly to keep your home on or near the first page.

We also constantly monitor our internet activity and have the capability to see EXACTLY where the internet action is coming from. This knowledge allows us to manipulate our marketing to capitalize on what is working and tweak the things that are not performing as desired.

Your property will also be advertised in the following ways:

We will arrange (covering the expenses) for high quality professional photographs which will highlight our vigorous advertising campaign.

We will have all your advertising materials designed by a professional graphic designer. (at our expense)

We will purchase the domain name for your homes address and have signage created to allow prospective purchasers to link directly to info on your home by simply imputing your homes address into the computer.

We have paid to make certain that we are on the first page of Google whenever anyone searches for “Kelowna Real Estate Agent” "Homes for sale in Kelowna" or a number of other terms. This will give your listing even more exposure.

You can expect regular updates on listing activity even if there have been no showing...this way you know we are still on the job and have not vanished.

We also use the latest technology available to make sure we are easy to reach and on top of things when it comes to working with the buyers who may be interested in buying your home. iPad, iPhone, home and office MAC’s are just some of the tools we use to stay cutting edge.

We will have a ‘QR’ Code placed on your yard sign. This will allow smart phone users to view your listing over their mobile device on the spot!

We have created our yard signs with visibility in mind. We have accomplished this by having the signs printed on reflective material and by using large fonts and graphics. We also use not just sign toppers but danglers as well which alert the features of you home to passers by.

We have paid to have special reflective signs created. These will be placed in your yard and will draw attention to your property both day and night!

We will create a Street Text sign for your property and place it prominently on your yard sign. This will allow passersby to get all the info on your property on their phone simply by texting a Street Text code. This will hopefully entice them into making a call to set up a viewing appointment.

We will create and upload a video showing off the features of your home onto the internet within YouTube. This video will then be linked within Facebook, our websites, your properties website, and many other places online.

We will hold open houses which will allow prospective purchasers the opportunity to view your home in a stress free manner. We will be available at each open house both to answer questions and to emphasize all the positive aspects of your home.

We will list your home on the Realtor MLS Tour. This will give other Realtors the opportunity to view your home first hand so they can better describe what your home has to offer to their clients who are in the market for a home like yours.

We will have high quality brochures professionally created and on display at your property allowing viewing buyers a takeaway reminder of the features they liked about your home.

The respected and recognized Century 21 gold post sign, prominently placed on your property will alert passersby that your home is for sale and where to find further information.

We will include your home in our virtual office tour allowing our colleagues the chance to see pictures and details. This is a real asset as it allows us to answer questions and to really sell your home to other Realtors and access their field of qualified buyers.

We will send an inter-office realtor flyer to all local real estate offices. This will enable Realtors in the Kelowna and surrounding areas to discover first hand that your property has come on the market and what it has to offer.

According to the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board (OMREB) over 85% of home sales take place due directly to the contacts and relationships a Realtor has built over the length of their career. Let’s not forget that you would have two agents doing this!

We will keep detailed records of who saw your home and when. This will allow us to contact anyone who has taken interest in your property when we smell an offer coming and in many cases this contact can instigate a multiple offer situation. We know what multiple offers mean right? MORE MONEY FOR YOU!!!

We will cover the cost of all printed materials and make certain that everyone possible knows whenever we have a major change to the listing. Ex.) Price adjustment, renovation, upgrade, etc.

We will provide a complementary moving truck to assist you in moving out of your old house and into your new home. The truck will also be offered to any buyer who purchases through Century 21. This may be one more incentive for them to buy your home.

By listing with us, as Century 21 agents, you will also have the opportunity to earn Airmiles. Airmiles will also be offered to any buyer who purchases through the Century 21 system. This is one more incentive for them to buy your home, no other real estate company in Canada can offer you this.

These are some (but by no means all) of the things we can do to assist you in selling your home. It is very important to make your home stand out from the crowd. Every property has its own individual characteristics and strengths, we will capitalize on these and use them to their fullest potential. Nobody will spend more time working to sell your home then we will... We are so confident and believe that we don't mind saying it or putting it into print!

Give us the opportunity to show you how we can make the sale of your home as easy and stress free as possible. We will provide you with a specific sales analysis, outlining what we can do to make your home sell quickly and at the best possible price.

Call us today...it's a risk free way to get some info that may help make a sold sticker appear on your yard sign!